Archive for the ‘technology’ category

So happy to announce this — my company has been hand-picked from hundreds of companies across Canada as one of the 20 most promising startups by the C100, an organization representing accomplished Canadian entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley. Press release below:

Twice a year, the C100 holds an event called 48 Hours in the Valley designed to offer 20 of Canada’s most promising startup companies a chance to visit Silicon Valley for two days of mentorship, workshops, investor meetings, strategic partner visits and networking.

Digital Journal is happy to say it has been recognized along with 19 other Canadian startups as “best-of-the-best of Canadian entrepreneurship” and the company has been invited to Silicon Valley for the exclusive 48 Hours in the Valley event in June that caters to Canada’s best-in-class companies.

“Being named in the Top 20 is a badge of honour for Digital Journal,” says Chris Hogg, CEO of Digital Journal, “especially given the fact that media companies never show up on a Top 20 list of technology companies. It really speaks to our unique business advantage in the media space, the power of our platform and our ability to execute.”

The C100 is a non-profit, member-driven organization whose focus is to support Canadian technology entrepreneurship and investment. The organization is made up of a select group of people based primarily in Silicon Valley, including startups CEOs, top executives of companies such as Apple, Cisco, EA, eBay, Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Oracle, and venture investors representing more than $8 billion in capital.”

Digital Journal has an exceptional management team who has built a company and product from the ground up, and we are looking forward to playing a big role in the future of media,” said Hogg. “We are also very fortunate to be backed by some of the most talented Digital Journalists in the space and we look forward to moving ahead to the next stage with them and bringing more opportunities to content creators everywhere.”

More information on Digital Journal, the team, its product and the company’s technology, can be found here. Digital Journal also hosts an annual speaker series called Future of Media dedicated to following the evolution of journalism, news and media. Past speakers include executives from Facebook, BBC, Globe and Mail, Global News, CBC, CTV, Rogers, blogTO, Polar Mobile, National Post and more.

A lot of headline ink has been spilled on the issue of Foxconn building iPads for Apple in China. Some believe the workers are exploited, making $14/day, while others argue the working conditions and pay is much better than anywhere else.

Here is a quick video I stumbled upon today that offers a look inside the factory. Pretty interesting stuff:

A press release from my company this morning announcing some great momentum going into 2012…

Digital Journal is winning praise for its role in covering major international stories throughout 2011. Leveraging both technology and a global base of contributors, the company played a big role in covering 2011′s top stories.

Boasting a network of more than 34,000 members in 200 countries, Digital Journal’s reach allowed the social news network to take part in and lead editorial coverage of 2011’s major stories.

From the tsunami in Japan, to the Occupy movements in multiple geographies, to protests during the Arab Spring, Digital Journalists published breaking news, featured stories, photo essays and video of important stories.

“Digital Journal has cemented its position in the digital media industry, earning praise for curating and nurturing high-quality user-generated media and for improving our platform to allow virtually anyone to take part in the news,” said Chris Hogg, CEO of Digital Journal. “Going into 2012, we’re excited to continue to lead in the world of user-generated media along with our world-class base of contributors and a platform that is unmatched.”

In addition to being a hub for top-notch reporting, Digital Journal also introduced several platform enhancements that have grown uniques by more than 75 percent. Pageviews have more than doubled.

“As a pioneer and leader in the world of user-generated content, Digital Journal has built a business around scaling content across several verticals and multiple geographies,” said Hogg. “Our content assignment tool and gamification project were game-changers for our business. Today we’re as much a technology company as a media company, which is a necessity for any media company that wants to be a leader.”

Some of the major international stories covered by Digital Journalists include:

The widespread London riots, from technology used to identify protesters to the thousands of arrests.

Tracking and reporting on the Occupy movement in cities such as Toronto, New York, London, Edinburgh, Oakland, Baltimore, Portland, Los Angeles, Seattle, Detroit, Halifax, and more.

Telling the many stories behind the Arab Spring protests, from Tunisia to Egypt.

Telling the untold stories related to the Royal Wedding, including the many fans lining up to get a glimpse of the ceremony.

Celebrity coverage from the Toronto International Film Festival, including photo stories showcasing many A-list celebs.

Covering the death of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs and tributes staged across the United States.

Tracking the results of the 2011 Canadian federal election and providing breaking news on ridings and voting results.

Publishing breaking news on the recent shooting massacre in Belgium.

Writing on same-sex legislation passed in various U.S. states and foreign countries such as Malawi, including analysis of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell repeal news.

Chronicling the intense flooding in the Philippines and the recovery missions.

“It’s amazing to watch the power of user-generated content as it scales across our global social news network,” said David Silverberg, Managing Editor of Digital Journal. “From editorial excellence to ongoing interaction between contributors, not a day goes by that we don’t marvel at the power of crowdsourcing.”

About Digital Journal:

Digital Journal is a global digital media network with 34,000+ professional and citizen journalists, bloggers, photographers and freelancers in 200 countries around the world. Regarded as a pioneer and leader in crowdsourcing and user-generated content, Digital Journal leverages its custom-built content platform and global reach to produce news and media content at scale in an environment that is built from the ground-up to be digital-first and social by nature. Digital Journal also consults and works with news organizations who want to leverage the power of their audience to acquire content, drive revenue and increase engagement from digital media properties.

With smartphones becoming as commonplace as wrist watches, it’s only a matter of time before they also start to take control of other gadgets in our lives. In this video, Microsoft offers a stunning view of what is possible.

Today when we talk about smartphones and the various things we wish they could do for us, the common response is “There’s an app for that!”

The mobile phone has long been viewed as one of the single most powerful gadgets we own not just because it functions as a computer and phone, but because of the potential to use it as a way to control other pieces of technology in our lives.

A new video created by Microsoft (below) gives an updated view at what could be possible, and it’s nothing short of remarkable. Interactive touch screens are gearing up to play a vital role in our lives and Microsoft’s vision of the future puts that concept front and center.

The 6-minute video titled “Productivity Future Vision (2011)” shows how technology, namely mobile devices, can be used to control other things in our lives in real-time. They let us communicate, do business, talk with family and play games, but they are also one day poised to be the central devices in our lives and critical to how we interact with other pieces of technology.

The video also shows how other mobile devices such as touchscreens and tablets will play a role an interact with mobile devices.

We’re a long way off from the vision Microsoft has presented in this video, but based on how far we’ve come with smartphones and mobile devices, it doesn’t seem as sci-fi as it once did. We’re already starting to see the virtual assistant-type technology evolve with Apple’s Siri, and the majority of kids under the age of 8 are using mobile devices regularly. Smartphones and mobile technology are everywhere. The future is not that far off anymore.

“Digital Journal is excited about the opportunity to continue working with Polar Mobile to showcase world class user-generated content on mobile devices,” said Chris Hogg, CEO, Digital Journal. “With the success of our mobile apps on iPhone, BlackBerry, Android and Windows Phone devices, we’re eager to extend our mobile reach into the tablet space. Digital Journal’s tablet apps offer outstanding features with a sleek design, and the tablets themselves provide unique reading experiences we know readers are going to love.”

Digital Journal’s iPad and PlayBook apps showcase top news and commentary from tens of thousands of Digital Journal members across the world. The tablet apps also include blogs, special reports and image galleries featuring an up-close-and-personal look at communities, people and events from thousands of cities.

“We are excited Digital Journal has picked our tablet platform to further extend their presence in mobile,” said Jon Zifkin, Director of Customer Success, Polar Mobile. “Tablets will play an integral part in Digital Journal’s user engagement and monetization strategy.”

Digital Journal’s tablet apps boast an immersive and engaging reading experience with a stunning layout and social media features such as the ability to share content on Twitter and Facebook from within the apps.

The tablets apps also offer readers access to read and share Digital Journal’s Twitter and Facebook streams right within the apps.

Digital Journal’s iPad and PlayBook apps are available for download from the iTunes App Store (link) and BlackBerry App World (link) today.